First Five Pages Workshop Announcement: Almost forgot! Since it’s the end of the month, I need to remind everyone that we are starting a new First Five Pages Workshop tomorrow! The details are here, but in a nutshell, the first five people to send the first 1250 words of their MG or YA ms (plain text in body of email) tomorrow after noon Eastern Time will get a month-long examination of their work.

And another announcement:

Bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde guests at Joan Swan’s blog this weekend. Best known for her book-turned-movie Pay It Forward, she has written 17 outstanding novels in both mainstream and young adult fiction. She’s chatting about her newest release, DON’T LET ME GO, offering an excerpt and giving away 3 copies of the novel, each with a handmade bookmark. Stop by http://joanswan.blogspot.com/2011/09/interview-excerpt-giveaway-with.html  to enter.

After the Sale

• The Character Depot: Rule of Seven…Do You Believe? [thecharacterdepot.blogspot.com] How do you buy (and sell) your books?

Book Reviews

• Tantalizing Future YA Releases! [/- LA FEMME READERS -/]
• Review: Shut Out by Kody Keplinger [Confessions of a Bookaholic] Amazing book for older teens!
• Scientist: Sky confirms “shining moon” behind Frankenstein – Yahoo! News [news.yahoo.com] Great story.
• Banned Book Week [Mystery Writing is Murder]
• Beyond Fateful: Hourglass by Claudia Gray [Novel Novice]
• Waiting on Wednesday: Liesel & Po [Mundie Moms] This makes me want to run out and buy it.
• On Banning Books: A Debut YA Author’s Perspective [Novel Novice]
• The Top 10 Books Lost to Time | Arts & Culture | Smithsonian Magazine [www.smithsonianmag.com]
• Middle Grade Spotlight: Middle School – The WORST Years of My Life [Writers’ Ally aka ➔ sa larsenッ]
• Kiki Hamilton Interview and Book Giveaway [Literary Rambles]

Congrats

• JASON’S QUEST… my first published short story!! [The Oracle and The Muse] Congrats so much! @ChristopherLedbetter
• Holy guacamole. The Leviathan series is #2 on the NYT series list. The SERIES list, where the BIG kids play! – img.ly [img.ly] Congrats @ScottWesterfeld!
• Andrea Cremer Lands Book Deal for YA Steampunk Series [GalleyCat] Yay!

Contests

• Interview & Giveaway: If I Tell by Janet Gurtler [Confessions of a Bookaholic]
• Giveaway: Pink Smog by Francesca Lia Block [Katie’s Book Blog]
• Interview w/ Kiki Hamilton + Giveaway!! [A Blog about Nothing]
• Release Day Post Part I: The Contest [The Michelle Show] Enter by 10/4.
• First Page and Giveaway: WITH A NAME LIKE LOVE [First Page Panda]
• Author-Signed Tantalize: Kieren’s Story Postcard Set & $10 iTunes Gift Certificate Giveaway [Cynsations]
• Ned Rauch-Mannino: Interview and Book Giveaway [Literary Rambles]
• Interview: Cornelia Funke (& Giveaway) [WORD for Teens] Enter by 10/5.
• Grand Openings [Novel Matters] Fun 1st paragraph contest & some fantastic examples.

Craft of Writing

• Can You Really Force a Character To Do What You Want? [Paranormal Point of View]
• Is There an App for That? Index Cards [Novel Matters]
• Gettin’ Physical: The Dos and Don’ts of Character Description [Beyond The Margins]
• You’re Invited To A Highlights Founders Workshop [Mitali’s Fire Escape]
• Tuesday Ten: Ways to Increase Story Tension [Cheryl’s Musings]
• Differentiating Characters [Mystery Writing is Murder]
• What Is a Story? [Jane Friedman]
• Fantasy Tropes: Freakishly Familiar Settings [The Publication Follies of Alexandra Shostak] Great worlds are in the details.
• Guest Author Dana Marton: 7 Tips to Improve Your Novel’s Pacing [The Other Side of the Story]
• Guest Post: You Must Write High Concept! [Harry Potter for Writers] Excellent post
• 25 Things Authors Should Know About Theme [www.publetariat.com]
• Please Lose Sight of Your Plot [Let The Words Flow] Balancing plot and generating emotion in the reader.
• Making Memorable Minor Characters [Author, Jody Hedlund]
• The Art of the Subplot, part 2 [Fantasy Faction]
• Engaging the Reader [The Sharp Angle]
• A Balance of Action and Information [Kidlit.com]
• Guest Post: Patrick Ness on A Monster Calls: Inspired by an Idea from Siobhan Dowd [Cynsations] YES! –> Stories don’t end with the writers. Amazing post
• 5 Essential Tips For Creating A Children’s Book | The Creative Penn [www.thecreativepenn.com]
• Should Your Story Be Told by an Unreliable Narrator? [Let The Words Flow]
• Pathetic Fallacy [edittorrent] Angry clouds, happy flowers… relaxing pizzas?
• Tips to writing a great second draft of your novel [BubbleCow]
• Why outlining is smart [Unedited]
• Tales From the Locker Room (And Other Stalk-Worthy Places) [YA Confidential] What teens are talking about today
• Write What you Love [GENREALITY] And know WHY you love what you write.
• The Doctor is in the House–Novel Diagnostics [Kristen Lamb’s Blog] Weaknesses commonly found in the 1st 10 pages.
• Dream a Little Dream—But Not in Your Fiction [Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors] Three questions before you include that dream sequence.

Critiquing

• How To Get The Most Out Of A Critique, Part Three [Writer Musings]

Inspiration

• Seat of the Pants Writers: Tips and Tricks to Overcoming Challenges [The Character Therapist]
• Writing from the TEEN PERSPECTIVE. [YA Confidential]
• Nanowrimo Prep:: Your Best Idea [Alexandra Sokoloff]
• Epiphany: The Bottom Line, Revealed [storyfix.com]
• 6 Keys to Opening Up New Possibilities in Your Story [Words and Such]
• Teendom & Books [WORD for Teens] Great post!
• Seat of the Pants: Pros and Cons [The Character Therapist]
• 5 Ways to Keep Your Writing Engine Running [Write It Sideways]
• 6 Ways to Make More Time for Blogging & Writing [Author, Jody Hedlund]

Issues

• Amazon’s Grip Tightens On The Entire Book-Publishing Chain [www.publetariat.com]
• Teen Roundtable: Book Banning [YA Confidential] GREAT persepectives–views from actual teens.
• Why Book Banning is Wrong [Sisters in Scribe] Are books that make you think considered dangerous?
• Does writing affect one’s love of reading? [Notes from the Slushpile]
• LGBT* YA [YA Confidential]
• Happy banned books week! [Jacket Copy]
• Digital Sales Means You Have To Be Better Than Amazing [Babbles from Scott Eagan]
• Why Do We Tell Stories? [Rachelle Gardner] A thought-provoking article by @RachelleGardner
• Fun Fact Friday: 13 Surprising Banned Books [Wavy Lines]

Just for Smiles

• Writer & Illustrators: Don’t forget the fun! [Inkygirl: An Illustrated Guide For Writers] I love everything Inkygirl! @Inkyelbows
• True Dat [Rachelle Gardner] GREAT!
• Authors Help 11-Year-Old Boy Raise Money for Cancer Research [GalleyCat] Great story!
• 10 Reasons It’s Great to Be a Writer [It’s a Mystery]

Self-editing

• Making a Scene: Using Scriptwriting to Fix Problem Scenes [The Other Side of the Story]
• Sacrificing Plot And Character Motivation For Fun [Pub Rants]
• Bad vs. Badly [Daily Writing Tips]
• Editing Your Own Novel: The Importance Of Self Editing [BubbleCow] The three levels of self-editing
• Kiki Hamilton: 2k11 [Fiction Notes] Writing in four acts and three layers.
• Use Words, Not Punctuation, To Tell Your Story [The Editor’s Blog]
• Tensed Up [QueryTracker.net] I wrote, I was writing, I had written.
• I, Editor [From the Write Angle] Excellent self-editing advice from @WriteAngleBlog.
• Reading Out Loud – Not Just for Kids [Writer Unboxed] WONDERFUL post

Social Media

• Should We Do Guest Posts? [Jami Gold, Paranormal Author] We LOVE our guests
• We Must Protect This House! 5 Ways To Guard Your Brand [* Roni Loren – Fiction Groupie *] Good advice from @RoniLoren
• Best of the Web Book Marketing Tips for the Week of September 19, 2011 [Author Marketing Experts, Inc. » BLOG]
• Twitter Chat Tips for Introverts: Part 2 [Cat’s Eye Writer Blog | Judy Dunn | Blogging Coach | Social Media Copywriter] Five ways to make them work for you.

To Market

• Pity or pitiful? [Behler Blog]
• Sara: On foreign rights and book fairs. [Crowe’s Nest]
• Tongue in Cheek guide to the Road to Publication [Author/Agent Mandy Hubbard]
• Stand Out In A Crowd [Babbles from Scott Eagan] Need more query confusion? Here’s a new reminder.
• How Important Is Your Book Title? [Rachelle Gardner]
• Why You Should Only Query 6-8 Agents at a Time [Writer Unboxed]

Other Weekly Round-Ups:

• Jane Friedman of Writer’s Digest does a wonderful list of best tweets of the previous week. 
• Alice Pope does a Wednesday Tweet Roundupfor the SCBWI Children’s Market Blog.
• Northern Colorado Writers do This Week in the Writing Worldevery Friday.
• Jennifer Roland does a Writing Roundup on Fridays.
• Ricki Schultz does an “In the Blogosphere” post on Fridays where she lists posts she’s enjoyed during the week.
• Elizabeth Craig posts a weekly list of all her helpful Twitter posts.
• And don’t forget to check  Nathan Bransford’s bloglater this morning for his weekly recap of publishing news and information.
• Saturday Link Party[Forever Young] Jessica rounds up fun and interesting links.
• Stina Linddenblatt does a Cool Links Friday. This week, she caught a lot I wish we had on ours. I know what I’m doing for the next few minutes!
• DuoLitdoes a weekly list of links with some emphasis on self-publishing and marketing.
• YA Highway’s Friday Road Trip hits the high points of the publishing industry, writing craft, submissions process, and other fun stuff.
• Cynthia Leitich Smith at Cynsationsdoes a Cynsational author and book news review.

Did we miss anything? Anyone? Please leave a comment!

Happy reading and joyous writing,

Martina, Marissa and Clara